Happy Ending, New Beginning
by lilyleia78
Summary: Blake's going on the road with Factory Blue. It's the first time he and Hunter have ever been separated, and Hunter's feeling a little anxious about it.  Gen fic.


"A happy ending is nothing more than a new beginning" - Sensei

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><p>Hunter glared at the bus with the giant, gaudy logo for Factory Blue emblazoned on the side as if it were sent from Lother himself straight out of the Abyss of Evil. "Are you sure about this, bro?" he asked, hands clenching and releasing reflexively at his sides.<p>

Blake dropped his bags onto the pile near the bus, calling out greetings to the more familiar faces, before turning to his brother. "About what?" he asked, squinting. Against the sun or because he was honestly confused by the question, Hunter wasn't sure.

Hunter crossed his arms over his chest. There were so many answers he could give to that question - was he sure about motocross as a career, was he sure about leaving the ninja academy, was he sure about leaving Tori and their friends?

Was he sure about leaving Hunter?

Hunter settled for a more generalized answer. He unfolded his arms and gestured expansively at the bus. "All of this. Are you sure it's what you want?"

Blake laughed. "Getting paid to become a rich, famous - not to mention incredibly attractive - motocross star? Yeah, I think it might be worth looking into. What else is there?"

Blake's honest joy and downright giddiness at the prospect was contagious, and Hunter couldn't fight off a smile of his own. He only half meant it when he offered, "Well, I think I could probably get you a teaching gig at the Thunder Ninja academy."

Blake laughed again. "Yeah right. I hear the head teacher there's a real jerk." But he looked up then and something of Hunter's anxiety must have been showing on his face because Blake turned serious. "You okay, bro?"

Hunter shrugged. "Fine. Just being dark and brooding I guess."

Blake didn't appear to be buying it. He grabbed Hunter's arm and dragged him a little away from the crowd. "Hey, I know it's been just you and me for a long time..." he began.

Hunter already knew where Blake's little speech was going, and it could only lead to one of two things. Blake would offer to stay - which Hunter could not, in good big brother conscience, allow. Or he would apologize, make excuses and leave anyway - tainting their last interaction with one more abandonment issue than Hunter needed. Either way, Hunter needed to nip it in the bud.

He gripped Blake's shoulder and forced a smile. "Yeah, so it's about time I pushed the baby bird out of the nest. Get some me time for a change."

"Hey," Blake protested, shoving his brother off. "Don't come crying to me when you get empty nest syndrome after about two minutes without me."

Yeah, that's kind of what Hunter was afraid of, but he scoffed. "With a whole school full of wannabes to train up? I probably won't even notice you're gone."

"Bradley," a voice shouted from the bus. Hunter and Blake both turned toward the commotion and saw that the bus was packed and loaded, only a few stragglers were left saying goodbye to their families.

"You'd better get going," Hunter said, nodding toward the bus, "Don't wanna miss your ride."

"Yeah," Blake said. He turned quickly and wrapped his arms around Hunter, squeezing him tightly in an embrace that told Hunter he wasn't nearly as indifferent to their separation as he'd been pretending.

Hunter held him for as long as he dared and then pulled back. "Get out of here. Go make me proud."

"Jealous, you mean," Blake said, jogging toward the bus. Before he climbed the steps he yelled back, "I'll be in touch."

Hunter nodded in acknowledgement. "You'd better," he said quietly - more to himself than to his little brother's retreating back.

As Hunter watched, the doors shut and the bus slowly pulled onto the road, taking his brother away from him for the first time in their lives.

Hunter stood there watching long after the bus had disappeared into traffic and around a corner. He may have stood there all night, except a large, warm hand clamped down on his shoulder from behind.

Hunter spun around, falling into a defensive crouch and found himself face to face with three smiling wind ninjas. Shane held his hands up in mock surrender. "Dude, it's just us."

Standing slowly, Hunter asked, "What are you three doing here?"

Shane smiled. "We thought you might want to hang out, go get a pizza or something."

"It's kind of far to come for a slice, isn't it?" Hunter asked skeptically. Unless they'd abused their ninja powers of course, but Hunter could see a familiar van on the other side of the parking lot so he knew they'd come the old fashioned way.

Dustin bounced on his toes. "It's never too far to get a good slice."

"Especially not with a good friend," Tori interjected.

Shane extended his hand. "Come on, Cam's waiting in the van."

Hunter clasped Shane's forearm and nodded. "Yeah. I could go for some chow."

"Excellent," Tori said, "I'm starving."

"Dude, me too. I could eat a whole pie myself," Dustin was saying, bouncing ahead of them. Tori and Shane trailed in his wake, but Hunter paused, glancing over his shoulder one last time to where he'd last seen his brother.

"Hunter!" Shane called, "Hurry up. You okay back there?"

Hunter turned back toward his friends and answered, "Yeah." And for the first time since Blake had signed his contract, he thought he just might be.


End file.
